Technical Manager

Have you got what it takes to drive our successful business to the next level?

Ever wondered what it would be like to work with the UK’s largest hotel, restaurant & coffee shop operator? Living and breathing some of the country’s favourite restaurant brands? Being an integral member of our forward-thinking technical team where innovation and passion are at the heart of everything we do?

NSF International is a recognised leader in inspection, certification, technical services, training and consulting services for the food industry. Our services are designed to provide enhanced legal compliance, brand protection and consumer confidence, and to create commercial advantage.

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team as a Technical Manager within our Consulting and Technical Services division. We are looking for a dynamic, driven and dedicated individual who will be a key technical resource to the Whitbread group.

We are looking for someone has a passion for food, innovation, safety and quality. 

Someone with an enquiring mind with a willingness to challenge the status quo and drive to implement change and improve ways of working. The successful candidate will be confident, articulate and comfortable dealing with people at any level of the business and be able to communicate with energy and authority in tough commercial settings. They will need to be flexible and self-motivated and can “hit the ground running”.

Technical Manager – The role

Working as an ambassador for NSF, the successful candidate will be a key member of the Technical Services team, where you will be responsible for:

• The approval, auditing and management of bespoke suppliers and distributors of food and drinks to Whitbread Hotels and Restaurant Group and Costa Coffee. Looking to proactively driving continuous improvement in supplier performance.
• Supporting the technical aspects of Whitbread’s NPD/EPD process from concept to launch, ensuring a safe and legal product is successfully launched. This including: reviewing and approving product specifications, evaluating factory records and product/environmental assessments and attending pre production trials
• Leading the product quality improvement agenda through targeting testing and analysis of data trends.
• Establishing and developing relationships with all partners in the supply chain from suppliers through to customers
• Supporting the development and implementation of supplier guidelines and internal standards
• Co-ordinate and manage incidents related to food safety, legality and quality including decision making, investigation and follow up of actions

Technical Manager – The person

The successful candidate will have a degree in Food Science/Food Technology/Environmental Health, be an accredited lead auditor, have a qualification in HACCP and have industry experience of Technical Services within the Food Industry.  We are particularly keen to meet candidates with experience of beverages product categories, especially who have a knowledge of internationally labelling and have worked within the Retail or the Out of Home sectors.

A key aspect to any role within our Technical Services team is to be able to react to unplanned demands and workloads so a flexible and organised individual is a must! First class communication skills are important – both written and verbal. Also needed is a good attention to detail for checking specifications, artwork and other in-store customer-facing material.

You will be based in at Whitbread’s Support Centre in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire and will be required to travel to clients and suppliers (domestically and internationally), and NSF offices so a valid UK driving licence is important.

This is a great time to be joining NSF International and we look forward to hearing from you!